Jason Rosenberg at It's About The Money, (Stupid), which is an amazing name for his blog penned a letter to Joba. Read it as I don't want to explain it and take views away from his page. To summarize very quickly he begs Joba "Do not set a tone for this four game series by drilling Youk, VMart, etc. Do not act like a punk."
Ok. I agree, sort of. Joba should not act like a punk. He should pitch quickly and effectively as he has done so marvelously since the all-star break. He also should not drill VMart because who cares about him (yet). It is Youkilis that we are after! If Joba reaches the 7th inning, the Yankees have a lead and our bald headed biker bearded foe strolls to the plate: PLANT ONE RIGHT IN HIS RIB CAGE! This is a crucial statement that must be sent: You've beaten us 8 times this year, we're still in first place and you intimidate us about as much as a 4th grader. Bean balls are a rare delicacy of baseball and Joba is their master chef. (weird analogy I'll give you that but I'm sticking to it). If the Youk dares charge the mound he'll be followed by a fiesty, armored Jorge Posada. I really wish Kyle Farnsworth was still on the team, but just for this weekend.
The Yankees need to win the game. That is the first priority. The bean ball is only effective when it adds insult to injury. It looks desperate and pathetic to bean a player when you are down. As for retaliation. Go right ahead: it's only fair. If old man Smoltz or whatever scrub they bring out of their bullpen throws back at Mark Teixiera all we can hope for is a Prince Fielder style roid rage clubhouse brawl. I respect Jason's point but I must say in this situation with the 0-8 record the intensity and momentum that would be created from a ball being planted in Youk's ribcage would be unparalleled. If it carried over in to Friday's game with Beckett, I would be confident that AJ Burnett would be just fine in holding his own. He's done so already this year.
Lastly, a fight could be just the right amount of glue to really bring this team together, for good. The 1998 Yankees (who won 114 regular season games, 125 including the 4 game world series sweep of the padres) used a benches clearing brawl to bring them together. SO PLEASE JOBA, pitch a solid game, the offense will back you up and when it is time...you know what to do.
-This day needs to move along so I can get to the stadium. I haven't been this excited to go to a game in quite a long time. Playoff baseball in August. What else could a baseball fan want?
-I bet the spy agrees with Jason Rosenberg
*UPDATE* If there were to be a fight, you can bet your bottom dollar Jorge would take his mask off before he took care of business. We can't say as much about Jason Varitek. I really hate the Red Sox. A lot.
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Thanks for the link, Paul.
ReplyDeleteThe point of the "letter" was to pitch smart. You can pitch inside, but going headhunting would have been a bad move.
That said, he had NO control tonite and barely escaped the 5th... no hit batters.